A thief with a drug addiction has been spared an immediate jail sentence by Bath magistrates.
Joe Seymour, who is currently living at the Julian House hostel in Manvers Street in Bath, was in court on Wednesday 1st October to admit stealing laundry products worth £35 from the city centre branch of Morrisons on 12th September. The items were recovered.
Solicitor Ned Kemp, representing Seymour, said it was a relatively low-level crime, but the 31-year-old was in breach of two community orders imposed for previous offences.
In total, Seymour has nine previous convictions for 20 offences, including theft and dishonesty.
Mr Kemp said Seymour has been of no fixed address for 15 years, which “is rather sad for a man of his age”.
He said Seymour’s ex-partner is a Class A drug user and they “exacerbated each other’s issues”. That relationship has now finished, and Seymour wants to “better himself”.
Mr Kemp asked magistrates to give Seymour a “last chance” and suspend any jail sentence.
Probation officer Deborah Silver said Seymour now understands the situation and “knows where it will end up for him” if he doesn’t comply.
She suggested magistrates revoke the previous orders and impose a new one with a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR).
Magistrates said Seymour had crossed the custody threshold but felt he had a chance of rehabilitation.
They sentenced him to eight weeks in custody for each of three sets of thefts, to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months.
The nine-month DRR order imposed will have 10 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days.
Seymour must pay a £154 surcharge but no contribution towards prosecution costs was ordered.
